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May 31, 2011

Soulclap to RiPPa for pointing us to this video. This video follows the Truthdig diatribe in which Dr. Cornel West called President Obama a 'Black puppet' and a 'Black mascot'. West also claimed that President Obama as a 'certain fear of free Black men'. Tavis Smiley decided to use his PBS show to give Dr. Cornel West a chance to dig out from the hole that he dug for himself in the earlier interview with Chris Hedges.

Personally, I feel that West and Smiley are still suffering from bad feelings because they aren't in Obama's inner circle. I truly feel that West harbors a grudge because he didn't get an invitation to the 2008 inauguration. The Boston Globe agrees that West went too far. What is your take on Cornell West and Tavis Smiley?

May 30, 2011

It is nice to be reminded that racist politicians don't all reside below the Mason-Dixon line. In fact, not all racist politicians were raised back in the Jim Crow era. If you don't believe me ... just listen to what freshman Republican congressman Joe Walsh (R-IL) had to say about President Barack Obama:

"Why was he elected? Again, it comes back to who he was. He was Black, he was historic. And there's nothing racist about this. It is what it is. If he had been a dynamic, white, state senator elected to Congress he wouldn't have gotten in the game this fast. This is what made him different. That, combined with the fact that your profession, not you, but your profession, was just absolutely compliant. They made up their minds early that they were in love with him. They were in love with him because they thought he was a good liberal guy and they were in love with him because he pushed that magical button: a Black man who was articulate, liberal, the whole white guilt, all of that." [SOURCE]

Yeah, this GOP wing-nut pulled out the race card in this recent interview. I guess it is part of his strategy to get re-elected to Congress. When the Medicare gambit failed ... this guy went to the tried-and-true -- racism.

I imagine that most villagers join with me in hoping that Rep. Walsh is a one-time wonder in Congress. His type of ignorance is not needed in Washington DC.

This 4-hour film honors Black veterans from the American Revolution to our battle against Global Terrorism. African Americans have risked their lives in defense of this nation in the dual effort to preserve freedom for their country while attempting to acquire it for themselves. Though their long struggle has been painful and heroic, their profound sacrifices and enormous contributions are finally recognized.

May 29, 2011

The pressure finally was more than Psychology Today could bear. Psychology Today issued an apology today for publishing a horribly racist and sexist article, written by Satoshi Kanazawa, that claimed that Black women are less attractive than women from other races.

“Last week, a blog post about race and appearance by Satoshi Kanazawa was published–and promptly removed–from this site. We deeply apologize for the pain and offense that this post caused. Psychology Today’s mission is to inform the public, not to provide a platform for inflammatory and offensive material. Psychology Today does not tolerate racism or prejudice of any sort. The post was not approved by Psychology Today, but we take full responsibility for its publication on our site. We have taken measures to ensure that such an incident does not occur again. Again, we are deeply sorry for the hurt that this post caused.”

It is tiresome to see the continued attacks on Black women. I'm glad that there were many of us in cyberspace that responded strongly to the poor choice that Psychology Today made by publishing this article. I wonder if others will think twice before making another attack on our Black women??

May 27, 2011

Soulclap to Your Black World for letting us know about the racist behavior of a white manager at a major Apple store in New York. It turns out that two Black men, Nile Charles and Brian Johnston went to the Apple store to purchase some headphones. The transaction should have been quick and simple.

Not so fast...

The manager of the store is an old white guy. The manager allowed his racial prejudices to run wild in his mind ... and he felt comfortable enough within the Apple culture to let his mouth run wild. He approached the two African American customers and let them know that if they were not buying anything or speaking with a Mac specialist then they would need to leave the store.

The two young men may not recall the Rodney King incident from back in the day ... but, they had the gumption to begin recording the racist nonsense being spewed by this Apple store manager on their cellphones. Their recording shows another Apple employee joining the discussion,

“Now you have to go. If you want to know why, it’s because I said so. CONSIDER ME GOD. You have to go.”

The two young men left the store ... and went directly to their lawyer. They have brought a lawsuit against Apple. The lawsuit is working its way through the New York judiciary. In the meantime, the folks at Apple may want to become acquainted with BDPA so that they can become exposed to Black people in some context outside of the courtroom!

May 25, 2011

This blog continues to advocate for an end to the taser torture that we see happening each week in America. Perhaps it will take legal action to get our police officers to make necessary changes in their use of force when it comes to tasers.

It further claims one of the officers used a Taser on Valentine more than once despite his lack of resistance. The city of La Marque, former police chief Richard Price, Taser International and officers Richard Garcia, Forest Gandy and Mike Keleman are defendants in the case.

Recent court documents explain that the decedent began to feel chest pains the evening of May 16, 2009, and went outside to get some air. He thought was he was suffering a heart attack so he flagged down a passing motorist for help.

The driver, Keith Pope, called 911 and subsequently remained with Valentine until emergency responders arrived.

The plaintiffs argue that Garcia, Gandy and Keleman appeared instead of paramedics. They allegedly drew their weapons on Valentine and instructed him to put his hands behind his back, disregarding his need for medical attention, the suit says.

According to the original petition, the policemen proceeded to punch, Taser and beat the decedent with their flashlights. Valentine was reported to have pleaded for his life to no avail.

The attacks in question left him with a "significant" gash in his scalp and labored breathing. An ambulance finally arrived some 30 minutes after the initial call, however, 20 minutes passed before paramedics lent assistance to Valentine, the plaintiffs say.

The decedent was rushed to a hospital in Houston, but the ambulance was rerouted to Mainland Medical Center in Texas City when he went into cardiac arrest. Valentine was pronounced dead shortly after his arrival.

The suit ultimately accuses the city and Price of failing to properly and thoroughly screen and supervise the officers who allegedly assaulted the decedent. It blames said officers for intentionally inflicting harm on him while Taser International is faulted for not placing adequate warnings on its products.

Consequently, the Valentine's family seek wrongful death, exemplary and survival damages. The case has been assigned to U.S. District Court Judge Kenneth M. Hoyt.

May 24, 2011

Last week Psychology Todayposted a blog claiming that Black women are "objectively" less beautiful than women of other races. Its author, Satoshi Kanazawa, is notorious for hiding behind pseudoscience to promote discredited racist and sexist ideas.

Under increasing scrutiny, Psychology Today removed the blog post from their site, but over a week later they still haven't issued an apology.

Kanazawa's article is flawed from top to bottom. Using a flawed data-set from an unrelated study of teenagers, he draws the obviously false conclusion that Black women are "objectively" less attractive than women from other racial groups.

So why does Psychology Today continue to give him a platform?Black women must constantly face both subtle and explicit messages that they are valued less than women of other races -- messages that are especially damaging to Black girls. Now they've served as launching point for yet another attack, this time in the name of science.

May 23, 2011

President Obama will bring his own beer to a pub he's visiting today in the Irish town of Moneygall, "where it is believed his great-great-great grandfather grew up." Because of security concerns, Obama will not drink any beverage provided to him by the pub, but rather a White House home brew, brought along by the Secret Service, IrishCentral reports.

He may not drink the local beer ... but, I gotta believe he is going to chow down on the local fish 'n' chips!

Waterbury (CT) police officer Andy Sanchez killed 26-year old Marcus Brown on May 1. Ordinarily this wouldn't cause much public uproar. Except this time there are some facts and circumstances that may be difficult for the police to explain.

Marcus Brown was a small man -- about 5'6" tall, weighing about 125 pounds -- and he was handcuffed in the back of a police cruiser. Brown, father of two, was at a local hospital where he had come to get help. Sanchez decided that he had cause to open the backdoor of the police cruiser and pump 50,000 volts of electricity into Marcus Brown with his taser ... while Brown was handcuffed.

May 22, 2011

Governor Mitch Daniels (R-IN) is the latest in a growing list of Republican heavyweights who has pulled out of the 2012 presidential campaign. Daniels said in an email to supporters he had decided not to seek the Republican presidential nomination because of family considerations.

"The counsel and encouragement I received from important citizens like you caused me to think very deeply about becoming a national candidate," Daniels said in the email sent by Eric Holcomb, chairman of the Indiana Republican Party and a close adviser to the governor.

"In the end, I was able to resolve every competing consideration but one, but that, the interests and wishes of my family, is the most important consideration of all," he said.

"If I have disappointed you, I will always be sorry."

Daniels is the third GOP candidate to bow out of the race in the past eight days. Businessman Donald Trump as well as former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee said no to the contest during that time frame. They each gave their reasons for pulling out ... but, I think it is becoming obvious that the Republicans don't think that they can beat Barack Obama in the 2012 presidential election.

I 'spose that two people who read this blog post with a smile are Mitt Romney (current GOP frontrunner) and President Barack Obama. I also imagine that we will begin to hear more stories about Governor Chris Christie (R-NJ). Christie will be getting more pressure to be a late entrant into the presidential race now that Daniels isn't going to run.

What are your thoughts on Daniels decision to pull out of the presidential race?

May 21, 2011

President Obama has been strong on reforming the educational system since he came to the White House. He put good people in place at the Department of Education and he made decision to go for excellence ... not just incremental changes ... but, a change in the mindset. I agree with him that our young people need powerful public education if they hope to compete in the future against young people from other places in the world.

I don't hear the 2012 presidential candidates from the Republican Party talking very much about education. The only thing they seem to say is that the budget needs to be balanced by eliminating the Department of Education. That seems like a losing strategy to me.

Kephart ran through a stop sign. The cops contend that Mr. Kephart became combative after a traffic stop, thus justifying the taser-killing. But Kephart’s father – himself a volunteer member of the Sheriff’s Rangers – describes his son as peaceful, hard working, church-going soul.

It is hard to see how this isn't another situation of excessive use of force. Can any villager truly claim that this was a reasonable use of force given the totality of the circumstances, including the severity of the alleged crime, the threat to public safety and the resistance of the subject.

May 20, 2011

My father enjoyed ol' school jazz. He had hours of reel-to-reel tapes of jazz musicians that he would listen to in his study or in the living room. He never really talked with me about the specific artists that he liked. I have to believe that Miles Davis was on his short list. My dad passed away a few years ago. I listened to this 1963 set by Davis, Herbie Hancock and others that was recorded in Stockholm ... and I thought of my Dad.

Once you have vaccines invented and manufactured at low cost, and rich donors paying for them, "you have to have developing countries act to take the vaccines and get them out to all the kids."

Gates' message: Technology is only as effective as the leaders delivering it.

"It is tragic when the last delivery piece holds it back. You have some countries, northern Nigeria, or Chad or the DRC (Democratic Republic of Congo) where less than half the kids right now are getting the vaccines," he said, referring to polio immunization in those countries.

Kanazawa concludes that Black women are less physically attractive than other women because they are fat and have too much testosterone. I didn't make this up. He wrote,

"What accounts for the markedly lower average level of physical attractiveness among Black women? Black women are on average much heavier than nonblack women."

Black women have enough challenges ... it is terrible to see that folks are trying to denigrate them with poot-butt science. I look at my mom, my grandmothers, my sisters, my nieces, my former wives and my two beautiful daughters and my simple response to Mr. Kanazawa?

We were sad to learn that one of the few African American beauty queens in the nation ... Shaletta Porterfield, Miss Wisconsin USA ... resigned her position after being charged with three counts of identify fraud. [SOURCE]

Porterfield allegedly faked signatures on advertising contracts while working with a marketing company last year. She is scheduled to go to court on this matter in July.

Wisconsin is one of the least successful states when it comes to the Miss USA pageant. The highest ranking for a Miss Wisconsin in the national pageant occurred in 1974 when Mary Cook was the 2nd runner-up. The state hasn't finished higher than 15th place in over 30 years!

I guess that Shaletta Porterfield was trying to diversify her sources of revenue since it wasn't likely that the whole beauty pageant thing was going to work out for her. Her replacement as Miss Wisconsin USA is Jordan Marie Morkin.

May 9, 2011

Remarkable interview with Leflore County Sheriff Ricky Banks about the hanging of Frederick Jermaine Carter. Banks is very open with his opinions and insights about the hanging of Frederick Jermaine Carter. Many of us think that Carter was lynched as part of some type of 'hate crime'. Sheriff Banks insists that Carter committed suicide.

Our thanks to the folks at W.E. A.L.L. B.E. for the investigative reporting that they are doing on the Carter case.

May 8, 2011

I guess I should start by saying that I'm not a big fan of Tyler Perry. I admire his entrepreneurial ability ... but, his movies often appear to be unnecessarily harsh against the image of African American men. I've never gone to a Tyler Perry play in my life and I've only attended his movies when others in my life suggested it. Earlier today my younger daughter suggested that the two of us go see Perry's current movie, 'Big Happy Family'.

I took her up on the offer.

The movie had scenes that were funny and other scenes that were tragic and brought a tear to your eye. I can't say that I would recommend the movie to others.

However, the most memorable moment of the film to me was Chandra Currelley-Young. She sang the following song towards the end of the movie and it blew me away.

It is Mother's Day today. I thought of my mother as this song was being played. Anyhow, the song inspired me today. I hope you enjoyed it as well.This blog will continue to seek out Sunday Inspirations, a meme inspired by Sojourner's Place. Sunday Inspirations is just one way to help get us through the week ahead, the trials we may face, and yes, to say 'Thank You Jesus' and testify! I invite you to participate in this weekly meme as your contribution might serve as an inspiration to someone in need.

The coroner later ruled that the death was due to a heart attack and not as a result of the multiple taser shots fired at 50,000 volts each from the police into Brown's body.

Cleveland Police say they couldn't control Rodney Brown and that Brown pulled a knife. Police say that's when they shot tasers at Brown. A short time later, Brown died.

Attorney David Malik is exploring a civil suit for the family, saying Brown's body had 11 puncture marks from taser probes. Malik claims the Cuyahoga County Coroner's Office has not released certain police records. [SOURCE]

What are the 'powers-that-be' hiding from us in this taser-related death?

May 6, 2011

If past political history is any judge ... then the Republican Party will select businessman Herman Cain as their candidate in 2012 to run for the presidency against incumbent Barack Obama. After all, the GOP voters in South Carolina primaries have been right on the GOP presidential candidate in every election since 1980 and the GOP voters in a focus group following last night's South Carolina GOP presidential debate OVERWHELMINGLY indicated that Herman Cain was the winner of the debate.

It was a surreal event in many respects. There were five candidates on the stage at this debate: Rep. Ron Paul, Herman Cain, former governor Tim Pawlenty, former senator Rick Santorum and former governor Gary Johnson.

Herman Cain

Ron Paul - Paul is like your crazy uncle at the Thanksgiving dinner. You're never quite sure what he's going to say in front of the kids ... and you're never quite sure if he's right in the head. Last night, Paul made a passionate defense of the need to legalize heroin. His rant seemed to get the largest audience response of the night.

Herman Cain - The focus group says that he won the debate. I smiled when one of the focus group members noted that Cain was 'articulate'. White folks are still amazed when they see a Black man who knows how to correctly use verbs and adjectives in a sentence. Quite frankly, the best part of last night's debate for Cain was the Fox News focus group afterwards. He was the definite winner in the minds of those 29 folks.

Tim Pawlenty - He had the highest profile of any participant in last night's debate. I thought that the others might pile on him ... but, Pawlenty managed to hold his own last night. His roughest moment came when he tried to squirm his way out of a question about 'Cap and Trade' legislation in Minnesota. It turns out that he was for it before he was against it.

Gary Johnson - I need to be honest. I had never seen or heard about Gary Johnson until last night. Who knew that he was a governor in New Mexico? Who knew that he admits to smoking marijuana and feels that marijuana use should be legalized? Who knew that he doesn't care for the reality shows of either Donald Trump or Sarah Palin? Who knew that one of his life goals is to climb the highest mountains on each of the 7 continents? These were all things that we learned during the debate last night!

First Lady Michelle Obama doesn't bother visiting the set of 'Dancing With The Stars' ... instead she simply brings her own boom box and dancing moves with her. I encourage all villagers to take a moment and view the following video:

ABD reported a surprising decline in the combined number of seats for women and people of color on the boards of the nation’s leading corporations. The largest decline was among Blacks. This year’s report found that in the Fortune 100 between 2004 and 2010, African Americans lost over 40 board seats while white men increased their presence on corporate boards, adding over 30.

Overall, women did not see an appreciable increase in their share of board seats. The Executive Leadership Council (ELC), an independent, non-profit corporation founded in 1986, is a founding partner in the Alliance for Board Diversity. ELC members are African American senior executives of Fortune 500 companies and equivalents. Considering the hundreds of board seats that became available during the six year period, ELC sees the combined decrease for all underrepresented groups and the steep decline for Blacks as disconcerting.

“It is troubling groups already severely underrepresented on corporate boards have collectively experienced a decline over the last six years,” ELC president and CEO Arnold W. Donald remarked in his assessment of the available data. "Most business leaders recognize that inclusion and the diversity of thinking that results from it creates real value. Shareholder value for most of the companies listed in the census is being compromised by the lack of board diversity. A decline in any single group of minorities or women is not good, a collective decline is troubling."

The ABD has worked collaboratively for more than six years to encourage corporations to increase the diversity of their boards. Catalyzed by sponsoring companies Altria and Kraft, the ELC has recently begun its own Corporate Board Initiative. ELC identifies and offers development opportunities to its members who are “board ready” and those who are nearly ready to assume the rigors of corporate board responsibilities. The organization has assembled an elite cadre of members prepared for board leadership and has worked with leading search organizations such as Heidrick & Struggles to prepare candidates and match them with opportunities.

Recent U.S. Census data shows that women and men of color comprise 66 percent of the U.S. population. Yet the ABD report indicates that more than 325 of the Fortune 500 have less than 25 percent representation, nearly 100 have less than 10 percent, and 37 companies have no women or minority representation whatsoever.

"Few will debate that inclusion and the diversity of thinking that it brings to business challenges creates real shareholder value," further stated Mr. Donald of ELC. "That's why the decline in the collective presence of underrepresented groups on the boards of America’s largest corporations as reported in this study is more than a little concerning. We at ELC, together with our ABD partners, plan to make a meaningful contribution in helping America's corporations address this missed opportunity."

Do you have any thoughts on why there are so few African Americans on the corporate board of directors? It would seem that Corporate America could do better in the 'age of Obama', don't you think?

May 3, 2011

It happened again! This time a lazy Waterbury (CT) police officer electrocuted 26-year old Marcus Brown with 50,000 volts of electricity from his taser gun. Officer Andy Sanchez, a 3-year veteran, has been placed on administrative duty while state police investigate Brown's death.

Officer Sanchez was called to Saint Mary's Hospital around 12:30am on Sunday, May 1. Sanchez and another unidentified police officer arrived in the lobby of the hospital's emergency room to a report of a man creating a disturbance.

The man, Marcus Brown, was taken into custody and placed in the back of a police cruiser. He was handcuffed and under control of the police. However, it appears that he was disrespectful to Officer Sanchez by kicking the door and window of the police car. Of course, Sanchez valued his car over human life ... so he took out his taser gun and electrocuted Brown.

Brown died right then and there.

Brown didn't have to die. He was handcuffed and not a threat to himself or others. There was no DEADLY FORCE involved. So, why did Sanchez pull his taser? It appears that the taser was simply being used as a HUMAN CATTLE PROD to compel obedience and respect.

The young man was in a hospital. Perhaps he was upset for a medical reason. We'll never know Brown's side of the story because he was killed. He's dead because a police officer was way too quick to reach for a taser gun in order to make his job easier. When will the police learn?

May 2, 2011

Osama bin Laden is dead. Our president worked with his national security team to run down all the leads and tips until they found the right one. Our president then patiently waited until the time was right ... gave the approval ... and then waited for 40 highly-trained Navy Seals to take care of business. When the Navy Seals were done -- Osama bin Laden was dead.

Watching our president last night as he announced to the nation that the United States had caught and killed bin Laden was amazing.

Am I the only one who feels proud to have voted for our president in the 2008 election? He is the right man for the job. He quietly and persistently plans his work then works his plan. He showed us that he was a man who played 'chess' while his opponents played 'checkers'. Hilary Clinton learned that fact during the 2008 presidential election. The health care reform opponents learned that fact last year. Donald Trump learned that fact last week.

There are many folks who doubt his citizenship ... who doubt his religious veracity ... who doubt his college achievements. I wonder if those folks are regretting their loud-mouth complaints and recognize that Barack Hussein Obama has earned his place in the White House. I wonder if those folks will recognize him as their legitimate leader.

Perhaps it is time for them to call him by his name ... call him "Mr. President".